Cape Town

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The last day in Kapama we slept in, had breakfast, and said goodbye to everyone at Karula.  Julius, Bricks (our waiter who served us at every meal) and Excellent were all there to send us off and load all of our luggage into our tiny rental car.  We made our way back to the main gate of the reserve and then to the airport.  Hoedspruit airport security was pretty comical…no metal detectors, just a hand search of your baggage on plastic folding tables adorned with animal print table cloths.

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We were flying to Cape Town for the last portion of our trip.  Once again on South African Express, where the Coke Lights are plentiful and the treats are wonderful.

It took us a while to arrive in Cape Town because we had to fly first back to Johannesburg and make a connecting flight down to Cape Town.  Once we arrived, we drove to our hotel at the Victoria Albert Waterfront.  On our way we had a fantastic view of Table Mountain, one of the city’s more popular attractions.

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We arrived at our hotel, showered up and met back for dinner at an amazing Italian restaurant on the waterfront.  Afterwards the men were delighted to find a McDonald’s and ended our night with some twist cones and ice cream sundaes.  A twist cone at the MdDonald’s in Africa is about .20 – Zach was on cloud 9.  We went to bed a decent time because the men had to be up bright and early for a 7:00 am pick up at our hotel.

Mark and Zach left the next morning to go hunting outside of Cape Town at a reserve owned by a local African tribe.  They were called the Bushmen, and communicated by using clicking sounds.  Zach and Mark got a tour of the village and how the people lived.  They got to see their homes and learn about their traditions.

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When they arrived their guide explained the deal.  They could hunt on their reserve as long as the meat went to the people of the village.  Zach and Mark obliged and had signed up to shoot a Springbok.  It turns out the people wanted more meat than a springbok could offer them and let Zach and Mark shoot an Eland if they were able to, for the same price.  An Eland is about four times as big of an animal as a Springbok and Zach was excited about the possibility.  The tribe decides who shoots what and when on the reserve.  It is much more of a political thing than they had thought.  Joe, their guide, outfitted Zach with a rifle.  Mark had previously had shoulder surgery and decided not to hunt.  Zach’s gun was bigger than he was, with a silencer (illegal in the US) on the end so the animals couldn’t tell which way the shots were coming from.  Joe explained that Elands were extremely difficult to shoot because they move really fast and hide out in brush as soon as they see anyone near.  The guide told Zach he had less than 20 minutes to get an Eland if he was able to do it.  The guys spotted the group of Eland, Zach spotted his target, and shot one!  A clean shot right through the heart.  They had a little trouble locating him because right after the animal was shot because he had a surge of adrenaline and laid down to die in the bushes.  It took them some time to find him, but knew he was shot because all of the other animals were waiting nearby.  Elands never leave with one of their own wounded.  They were all around him waiting for him to get up and run along with him, that’s how Joe knew that Zach had really got him.

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As soon as they found him Joe called the men of the tribe.  Four of them came over (luckily wearing normal clothing and not loin cloths like they commonly wear) and took care of the animal.  They gutted it on site and Joe wenched it up into the back of his Land Cruiser.  Zach is going to have the skull mount shipped home once the people are finished with the meat of the animal.  Meanwhile, while Zach and Mark were off being manly men, Jeanene and I were shopping at the local craft markets.

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We stopped at serval markets getting jewelry, Zulu nativity sets for our family members, and other little treasures.  By the time we returned to our hotel to drop off our findings, the guys had returned.  They got ready and we all met back up for dinner at an amazing restaurant on the water.

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After our fine meal we walked through some shops at a local shopping center while watching the boats down on the water.  We ended the night with another visit to the golden arches for some ice cream.

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